NC father of dirt collapse victim faces charges

A May 1, 2012 photo provided by Jordan Arwood shows his daughter Chloe Jade Arwood holding a bird at their Stanley, N.C., home. Chloe and her cousin James Levi Caldwell were buried alive and died as a wall of dirt collapsed on them Sunday April 7, 2013.The children had been playing at the bottom of a large pit that Jordan Arwood was digging on his property when it collapsed and buried the children.

STANLEY —

The North Carolina father who was working in a two-story-deep hole that collapsed killing his daughter and her cousin faces drug and firearms charges.

The Lincoln County sheriff's department said Jordan Arwood, 31, of Stanley, is charged with possession of a gun by a felon, and making a controlled substance. He was being held Tuesday in the county jail on $20,000 bond.

Arwood was operating a backhoe in a pit last week when the walls caved in on the children. The bodies of 6-year-old Chloe Jade Arwood and 7-year-old James Levi Caldwell were dug out the next day.

While investigating the accident, sheriff's deputies removed six firearms including an AR-15 rifle and a marijuana plant from Arwood's home.

The sheriff's office said it was still investigating the case. When investigators finish, they plan to present their findings to the district attorney's office to determine if charges will be filed.

Officials described the pit as 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom. The children were at the bottom of the construction site retrieving a child-sized pickaxe when the walls fell in on them. No permits had been issued for Arwood to dig on the site.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Arwood said he worked frantically to save the children from the wall of falling dirt that killed them but they were just outside his reach. He says he dug faster and faster trying to save the children until he couldn't breathe.

Investigators say they still don't know why Arwood was digging the hole. But he said he was building a rammed earth home, an ancient building method where dirt is used to shape the foundation.